By Geelong Story Updates
New branding
Geelong’s Sundowner Motor Inn is set for a branding makeover after Constellation Hotel Group took over the hotel’s parent company.
The Sundowner will be rebranded as a Chifley Hotel following the acquisition.
The hotel will undergo a major refurbishment before joining the Chifley
network, which includes four to four-and-a-half star properties in key locations around Australia.
Guests at the re-branded Chifley on the Esplanade will qualify for membership of Constellation’s customer loyalty program, The Escape Club, earning them free holidays throughout Australia.
The new deal adds another 20 hotels to the Constellation Hotel Group stable, bringing the total number of properties the company owns in Australia to 114.
Corporate predictions
Four out of five corporate collapses can be predicted up to four years ahead, according to a Deakin academic who created a new system to evaluate companies’ prospects.
Deakin University Business School senior lecturer Dr Gus Hossari applied an innovative method for predicting corporate collapse as part of his PhD studies.
Dr Hossari said his method analysed the financial health of a company by looking at key items in financial statements, including cash flow, net income, total assets and total liabilities.
These were then weighted to account for their effect on the final forecast.
“For instance, net income and total assets affect the outcome the most, while cash flow and total liabilities affect it least,” Dr Hossari said.
“Predicting corporate collapse could be likened to the search for an accurate long-range weather forecast.”
Secrets revealed
The secrets of heading up a successful team will be revealed at a business-to-business networking event next week.
Some of Geelong’s business and leadership luminaries will share their tips on the subject with business representatives at Gheringhap Street’s Ford Discovery Centre on Thursday.
Speakers at the b2b event include Barwon Health chief Sue De Gilio, Bean Squeeze entrepreneur Doji Singer, business coach Terry Powell and Leaders for Geelong program coordinator Jean Paul.
The program is sponsored by Leaders for Geelong program, with The Communicators and Coumans CA hosting the event.
Only one business per industry can be represented at the event.
Organisers have urged business operators to book by phoning 5221 7133.
Recovering steam
A new water-saving initiative at Shell’s Corio refinery will free up 300,000 litres of drinking water a day.
The refinery’s fresh water consumption has fallen 20 per cent since Shell last year increased the rate of recovery of condensatation from steam used in the refining process.
Refinery manager Huck Poh said the refinery’s average monthly fresh water consumption had reduced nearly 30 per cent in the past five years.
“The majority of the fresh water is used to make steam in the refinery’s boilers and while we already recover and reuse about a third of this, we identified that further improvements could be made,” said Huck.
Shell’s reliance on drinking water will be further diminished when Barwon Water completes a major sewage and trade waste treatment plant to direct recycled water from the northern suburbs to Shell.
Glass act
Glass manufacturer Pilkington has become the first manufacturer to sign a sustainability covenant with the Environment Protection Agency.
The voluntary agreement between Pilkington, the EPA, Sustainability Victoria and Australian Industry Group encourages the company to work with the other signatories to develop ways of producing products in environmentally and economically sustainable ways.
Pilkington Australia president Laurie Kruger said his company was happy to sign on.
“Each partner will play a valuable role in spreading knowledge among key decision-makers about our energy-efficient glass products,” Mr Kruger said.
“The signing clearly shows Pilkington has the skill set and dedication to manufacture glass products that embrace both economic and environmental sustainability.”
